Jack Bannister
Jack Bannister was an 1880s London-based lowlife.
Biography[[edit] | [edit source]]
In 1883, while digging a tunnel under Oxford Street in an effort to rob the Capital and Counties Bank, Bannister and Jenkins stumbled upon an Iytean starship which had been buried there for thousands of years. As they explored it in the hope of finding some valuables they could bring back to the surface and fence, Jenkins accidentally opened a stasis pod, and the symbiont creature within tried to possess him. (GAME: "Introduction Story" [+]Part of The Iytean Menace, Loading...{"namedep":"Introduction Story","1":"The Iytean Menace (game)"}) It was unable to fully control him, but the spasmic flailing caused by their warring wills caused Bannister to believe Jenkins was having a seizure and to take him to a reputed physician, Doctor Henry Jellicoe, who was known for treating nervous conditions and for often treating poor patients for free. As the Doctor examined him, the Iytean left Jenkins's body and jumped into Jellicoe's instead. (GAME: "Solving the Mystery" [+]Part of The Iytean Menace, Loading...{"namedep":"Solving the Mystery","1":"The Iytean Menace (game)"})
By 1885, Bannister, now 34 years old, (GAME: "Non-Player Characters" [+]Part of The Iytean Menace, Loading...{"namedpart":"Non-Player Characters","1":"The Iytean Menace (game)"}) had established a lucrative business with Jenkins, smuggling alien artefact out of the starship in small quantities and then selling them to various collectors of the occult in the guise of being exotic artefacts exported from distant lands. Among the buyers were Colonel Malcolm Fraser and Sir Reginald Carruthers. (GAME: "Encounter with Fraser" [+]Part of The Iytean Menace, Loading...{"namedep":"Encounter with Fraser","1":"The Iytean Menace (game)"}) The Colonel, who believed the artefacts to be Atlantean in origin, discovered how to activate one of the energy weapons he had purchased, and began to fantasise about using its awesome might to take over the world, but he was loathe to begin when Bannister might still have a stock of weapons of his own with which to oppose him. (GAME: "The Colonel's Granddaughter" [+]Part of The Iytean Menace, Loading...{"namedep":"The Colonel's Granddaughter","1":"The Iytean Menace (game)"}) Thus, he frantically tried to get in touch with Bannister. This proved difficult because Sir Reginald, who had introduced them, became estranged from the Colonel after his house was robbed in an effort to steal some of the artefacts he had bought from Banniser, for which Sir Reginald blamed the Colonel. (GAME: "Encounter with Fraser" [+]Part of The Iytean Menace, Loading...{"namedep":"Encounter with Fraser","1":"The Iytean Menace (game)"})
Also seeking Bannister and Jenkins was the real culprit, "Ned Hines", actually the alias adopted by the Iytean after it had partially taken over Henry Jellicoe's body. Hines wished to extract the location of the buried starship to recover more of the chemicals he needed to further his plans of world domination. Hines ended up murdering Sir Reginald in a blind rage after the gentleman proved unable to locate Bannister. (GAME: "Solving the Mystery" [+]Part of The Iytean Menace, Loading...{"namedep":"Solving the Mystery","1":"The Iytean Menace (game)"}) By this point, the Time Lord Rollo and his companions were investigating the whole affair, having been sent by the Celestial Intervention Agency to investigate the alien interference in Victorian London for fear that it would cause a departure from established history. (GAME: "The Summons" [+]Part of The Iytean Menace, Loading...{"namedep":"The Summons","1":"The Iytean Menace (game)"})
When Bannister and Jenkins finally returned to the Colonel's house, their meeting was overheard, either by the time-travellers themselves or by the Colonel's granddaughter Julia Fraser, who was sympathetic to the interlopers. Bannister and Jenkins had come simply to offer up a few more trinkets, but the unimpressed Colonel instead made a very generous bid for their entire stock of alien artefacts. The crooks asked for time to consider and left, leaving a fake address. (GAME: "A Visit From Bannister and Jenkins" [+]Part of The Iytean Menace, Loading...{"namedep":"A Visit From Bannister and Jenkins","1":"The Iytean Menace (game)"}, "The Meeting" [+]Part of The Iytean Menace, Loading...{"namedep":"The Meeting","1":"The Iytean Menace (game)"}) They returned the following night, only to find the house awake with commotion as they had been attacked by Ned Hines, who was trying to get Bannister and Jenkins's location from the Colonel. They fled, but were spotted by the time-travellers, (GAME: "The Attack" [+]Part of The Iytean Menace, Loading...{"namedep":"The Attack","1":"The Iytean Menace (game)"} who managed to followed them to their hideout on the docks by the time-travellers. From there, either through reconnaissance or directly interrogating the crooks, the time-travellers learned the location of the Iytean starship. (GAME: "Tracing the Criminals" [+]Part of The Iytean Menace, Loading...{"namedep":"Tracing the Criminals","1":"The Iytean Menace (game)"})
Subsequently, one possible path forward for the time-travellers was to use Hines's maniacal desire to find Bannister and Jenkins as bait to lure him into a trap, possibly with the help of the crooks themselves. (GAME: "Player Options" [+]Part of The Iytean Menace, Loading...{"namedep":"Player Options","1":"The Iytean Menace (game)"}) Either way, the time-travellers eventually destroyed or removed the starship, cutting off Bannister and Jenkins's source of income for the sake of humanity's survival and the preservation of established history. (GAME: "Tying Up Loose Ends" [+]Part of The Iytean Menace, Loading...{"namedep":"Tying Up Loose Ends","1":"The Iytean Menace (game)"})
Personality[[edit] | [edit source]]
Though outwardly smooth and charming, Bannister had little in the way of "real loyalty and honesty" in him, save for some affection for his partner-in-crime Bert Jenkins. He was a genuinely cunning schemer, but had a still-higher opinion of his own intelligence. (GAME: "Non-Player Characters" [+]Part of The Iytean Menace, Loading...{"namedpart":"Non-Player Characters","1":"The Iytean Menace (game)"})
Physical appearance[[edit] | [edit source]]
Banniser was of average size and build, with light hair and a short, curly beard. He typically wore a bowler hat, a short jacket, a striped vest, a high-collared shirt, and white or buff trousers. (GAME: "Non-Player Characters" [+]Part of The Iytean Menace, Loading...{"namedpart":"Non-Player Characters","1":"The Iytean Menace (game)"})
Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]
Jack Bannister has the dubious honour of being the only major character in The Iytean Menace who is never clearly illustrated; he is only seen as a darkened silhouette in the first illustration of the Introduction Story alongside Jenkins as they unearth the Iytean starship.
